School districts decide whether or not to teach cursive writing

News that many schools across the nation, and the state, have dropped cursive writing from their elementary curriculum has received criticism from those who believe handwriting is essential to the learning process.

Others argue that — with the prevalence of technology — cursive writing is no longer as necessary was it once was.

In New Jersey, there is no core curriculum standard that addresses the need for cursive writing instruction, but many local school districts still believe it’s important to the educational process.

“Millville teaches cursive handwriting in third grade, and the elementary school classrooms do have the cursive alphabet visually displayed,” said Dr. Judith Koru, assistant superintendent of curriculum at Millville Public Schools. “However, I would say — a lot of the time — it’s up to the individual teacher as to how much he or she will stress handwriting. It’s a lot different from years ago, when it used to be referred to as penmanship, and you’d really practice getting the flow and the angles right.”

Koru said she’s aware that there is a lot of debate going on as to whether cursive writing instruction remains necessary.

“In the national core content standards, keyboarding is something children are required to learn,” said Koru. “We also teach that in our elementary schools, but we haven’t taken an ‘either/or’ stance. There is research that learning handwriting increases both hemispheres of the brain and helps create a thought, so we’re not throwing it out.”

Koru does admit that, in the modern world, handwriting is used less and less.

“Even for testing, we’ve been told that — in 2014 — students will be using the computer for their writing sections,” she said. “It’s something to look at.”

Katherine Estep-Carey, supervisor of curriculum and instruction for the Franklin Township school district, said the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Language Arts Literacy only requires that students “write legibly in manuscript or cursive,” so there is no cursive handwriting mandate.

“However, New Jersey has recently adopted the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts with the implementation of these standards scheduled for next September,” said Estep-Carey. “My interpretation of the new English Common Core is that it focuses on the production and content of writing rather than the handwriting itself, though my impression is that it is implied that writing be produced legibly in either manuscript or cursive.”

Estep-Carey said she feels that the incorporation of more rigorous technology standards may have shifted some of the attention away from cursive writing “as being technologically-proficient is becoming increasingly more important to be career and college ready.”

“It is, however, the belief of Franklin Township that we must strike a balance between the two skills,” she said. “Franklin does believe that cursive writing is still an important skill in education, but it has real-world application as well. If teachers in middle or high school write their lessons or academic feedback in cursive, students must be able to read it before they can even process it for understanding. Cursive writing also has much merit in history. In order for students to analyze historical documents such as our own Declaration of Independence, students must be prepared with the skill of reading cursive. In terms of writing in cursive, it is imperative that students can sign their name as their signature will be required on many documents — a lease, mortgage, checks, marriage certificate, etc.”

Estep-Carey said the district received some feedback from community members and teachers that pointed to deficiencies in cursive handwriting instruction. Therefore, Franklin has recently reviewed and revised its cursive handwriting program to ensure that it is vertically aligned so elementary students will move on to Delsea Regional having mastered the skill.

“Our teachers begin cursive handwriting instruction at the end of second grade and continue through third and fourth grades using a handwriting program,” she said. “Our fifth and sixth grade teachers are responsible for continuing its application in specific content areas and remediating as necessary.”

In the Washington Township school district, Director of Elementary Education Bobbi Marciano said teachers still formally teach cursive writing.

“There’s an expectation that kids will use cursive in homework assignments and papers they write in class,” said Marciano. “In state or timed testing, they can write however they feel comfortable. Our feeling is that a fully-literate person can write in both cursive and manuscript, and we feel our kids would be at a disadvantage if they couldn’t.”

Marciano said, every now and then, the cursive writing curriculum is discussed.

“Things may change in the future, but we still see it as relevant,” she said. “I don’t know that it has the same rigor as when I was in school and we had to practice it every day, but kids in our district do learn it and use it.”

Mantua Township school district’s supervisor of curriculum, Robin Bazzel, said the elementary district has handwriting expectations for each grade level.

“We look at it as the way students communicate their understanding,” said Bazzel. “A lot of districts are drawing a line in the sand and saying we live in a digital society and everything has to be done on computers. I understand that, but there is a lot of research out there that says if students have fluency in handwriting, they actually have more fluency in their thought processes when they’re writing. It’s not just the formation of the letters, it’s what they’re writing.”

In Mantua Township, cursive writing instruction begins in third grade — moved up in recent years from second grade — because research has said third-graders are better prepared for it with their level of motor skills.

“We teach cursive in third grade and promote usage and mastery in fourth grade and above,” said Bazzel. “It’s a little bit of a challenge. Some teachers believe more in cursive writing while others believe students should have a choice. Whatever the case, they’re responsible for teaching kids how to write and print.”

Bazzel said Mantua schools have defined their expectations for students to create more consistency classroom to classroom.

“Students communicate their understanding by what they put on paper,” said Bazzel. “And we have to prepare them for real life where they’ll need to take notes, outline and communicate their thoughts well. We should be able to read and write the English language in a variety of ways, and we get a lot of parents who express the desire for even more handwriting work in the classroom.”

Bazzel said her district will continue to teach handwriting as long as it adds to the educational experience.

“It’s amazing that handwriting has become a controversial issue,” she said.